AllFreeNovel
Share Us
My blood iced over as I realized why Nemo had not returned to me. Faraall had probably killed him. Pain like I’d never felt stabbed at my heart, and I burst into tears. I was going to destroy that S.O.B. One way or another, I would have my vengeance.
“What the fuck is he doing here?” Gill growled. “Didn’t you kill that prick?”
“Get us inside,” I screamed, my pulse cranking up a notch.
“What if we get trapped?” Gill asked. “We should run.”
“Where?” I cried. “We won’t reach the horses in time.”
“But we’ll be trapped,” Fin said.
The galloping pounded in my brain as the commander’s team approached. There was no way he was getting his hands on me again. I’d rather starve and perish from dehydration inside the collector’s trove than go back to Tritonia with him or be sold to the pirates a second time.
“With a fuck-load of magical items,” Gill added.
Exactly. The only downside was that we had no idea how to use them. Would they even work for us if we weren’t witches? What if the magic hurt one of my mermen or me? I supposed I’d rather die from magic than rape and murder.
Fin pressed his hands to the trove’s door. It rattled as his vibrations shook it. Blazing red symbols of a strange language burned into the wood. Little embers flew off them. He hissed as one seared his skin but didn’t let up on his attempt to break in.
I spoke four different languages, and I didn’t recognize a single letter of this one.
Prickles crawled down my neck like an army of sea mites on the march.
I jammed my hands against the wood and shook with all my might.
More markings spread across the door.
Fin shoved the door and it began to give. “It’s working. Keep going, Princess.”
I put all I had into my sonic blasts. The door shook so hard, I was terrified it was going to shatter into a thousand pieces. Somehow, it didn’t, which was a miracle. Because my powers were known to smash small shells to bits.
By the time Faraall and his men hit the tree line, the door finally gave. Fin shoved me inside and hurried in after me, followed by Gill. My mermen tried to barricade the door with their bodies, but the whole door glowed red hot, burning them, and they pulled away.
Shellfish. Now we were well and truly trapped, whether we liked it or not.
I heard the horses slow their pace.
“Get my beloved bride,” Faraall ordered. “Kill the other two.”
“Quick,” Fin said, dragging me down a short flight of stairs into darkness.
Strange markings glowed on the tree’s wood, allowing us to see a little. At the end of the stairs we emerged into a darkened room. My mervision kicked in, allowing me to see a desk by the wall, cabinets, and even nooks carved into the wall, storing all sorts of weird and wonderful-looking objects.
Someone screamed outside the tree. One of the mersoldiers must have touched the fiery door.
My heart wrenched even though the traitor of a merman hunted us.
“Get a ram to break the door down,” Faraall barked. “She’s not getting away this time.”
Dark thoughts crashed inside my mind. They could use one of the swinging trees. What if they managed to get in? We’d be trapped. My mermen slain and me taken hostage again. A fate worse than death.
Gill wrapped an arm around my shoulder. “I won’t let him touch you.”
Despite his promise, I wasn’t so sure. We were outnumbered and confined to a small space. The horrific reality of the situation deadened my insides.
“Find the pearl,” Fin ordered, and he and Gill got to work, searching among all the items.
I tried to distract myself by examining all the jewelry, weapons, headpieces, masks, spears, chalices, small statues carved from stone, what looked like various kinds of animals’ teeth and skulls, and even a gnarled branch.
